Following a midweek win over Valparaiso, Vanderbilt earned its second win in a row as it took game one of a weekend series against the Missouri Tigers, 3-0. It was largely a pitcher’s duel from Hawkins Field, as the two teams combined for just 12 hits while both starting pitchers made it through at least six innings. Offensively, it was RJ Austin (2-for-4, RBI) and Matt Ossenfort (1-for-3, 2B, BB) who led the Commodores on a difficult night at the plate.
On Thursday night, it was the Greysen Carter show. The righty was given the nod against the Tigers and produced Vanderbilt’s best pitching performance all season, producing a near complete-game shutout and allowing just three hits to the Tigers. It was a completely dominant performance from the junior who struck out seven of Mizzou’s first nine batters and ended the game with 11 strikeouts.
“I just had to trust myself to get back out there and do what I know I’m capable of doing,” Carter said after the game.
The first inning came and went unceremoniously, as both sides went down in order. Carter struck out all three batters he faced in the second inning before Vanderbilt narrowly missed out on opening the game’s scoring in the bottom of the second inning.
After a Troy LaNeve single marked Vanderbilt’s first hit of the game, Matthew Polk crushed the first pitch he saw to the left-field wall. Polk’s hit missed clearing the wall by hardly a foot, but instead ricocheted off for a double that advanced LaNeve to third. A sliding catch on the first pitch to Davis Diaz retired Vanderbilt scoreless.
The Commodores would finally plate their first run in the bottom of the third, as Alan Espinal delivered in a big spot. After RJ Austin poked a single to right field and advanced on a groundout by Cam Kozeal, Espinal brought him home with a hard-hit single into left.
The fourth inning was quiet for both sides as they managed to field just one combined runner, but Carter finally faced his first bit of trouble in the top of the fifth inning. The righty surrendered his first hit of the game to Missouri’s Jedier Hernandez, who ripped a ball over third base for a double into left field. Hernandez then advanced to third on a wild pitch from Carter, but was kept from coming home after Carter forced two groundouts to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Commodores used small ball to double their lead. After Diaz was hit by a pitch, a Jonathan Vastine sacrifice bunt moved the junior to second base. After Diaz advanced on a wild pitch, an RJ Austin RBI groundout brought him home to put Vanderbilt up 2-0. With the offensive struggles over the past few games, the Commodores needed to manufacture offense however they could.
After Carter turned in yet another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth inning, the Commodores tacked on another run to their lead in the bottom of the inning. In just his second career start, Matt Ossenfort ripped a double into right field to start the inning and was brought home when Jayden Davis blooped a single over first base and into the outfield.
After another brilliant inning from Carter was almost followed up by more run support, but great defense from the Tigers kept them off the board. After an Austin single moved Vastine to third base, Austin stole second to find the Commodores with two runners in scoring position and zero outs. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, disaster struck soon after, as Kozeal grounded out in the infield and Espinal lined out to the third baseman who caught Vastine off the bag. Somehow, Vanderbilt was kept off the board and its three-run lead was maintained.
The seventh and eighth innings were marked by more dominant pitching from both sides, and Carter remained on the mound in the top of the ninth looking for his complete game shutout. After striking out one, Carter allowed a single which was enough for head coach Tim Corbin to turn to the bullpen. A wild pitch would plate the runner that Carter allowed on, but Ryan Ginther would get the final two outs to close out Missouri in game one.
Game two of the series will take place from Hawkins Field on Friday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
